YAKIMA — Walla Walla equaled or exceeded Clark in nearly every statistical category here Sunday during the final day of the Yakima Valley College season-opening women’s basketball tournament.
Shooting percentage was the one area where the Warriors fell short, and it proved to be decisive in the 73-62 Penguins victory.
Clark fired away at 55 percent from the field and 60 percent from beyond the 3-point arc while Walla Walla made 24-of-71 shots from the floor overall (39 percent) and made seven of its 23 3-point tries (30 percent).
“They shot (the) lights out and we didn’t,” veteran WWCC coach Bobbi Hazeltine said in assessing her team’s second loss in three days here to open the campaign. “We are not a great shooting team and they are a really good shooting team. Still, we hung with them.”
The Warriors outrebounded the Penguins 42-34, led by sophomore MeShel Rad’s game-high 10 rebounds, seven of them on the offensive glass. WWCC also forced the Yaks into 14 turnovers, two more than the Warriors were guilty of, and each team dished out 13 assists, with Warriors freshman Karli McHome leading the way with three.
“I thought we competed with them the whole night,” Hazeltine said. “But Clark is really good. They probably shouldn’t have been in the losers’ bracket.”
The Warriors, who opened the tournament Friday with a 55-49 loss to Chemeketa and bounced back Saturday for an 81-57 win over Centralia on Saturday, fell behind 33-26 at halftime Sunday.
“We pulled within three points a couple of times in the second half,” Hazeltine said. “I like this team, the way it competes hard. We got better Friday to Sunday, a lot better.”
The Warriors’ big issue, Hazeltine said, is its youth. Although there are five sophomores on the roster, only two — Rad and Amy DeLong — saw substantial playing time as freshmen.
“We are practically a brand new team,” Hazeltine said. “I feel like we have 15 brand new players and we are trying to find some combinations.”
A trio of Penguins did most of the offensive damage Sunday. Brooke Bowen, Shantell Jackson and Nicolette Bond combined for 47 of Clark’s 73 points, and they were a combined 20-for-29 from the field and 7-for-12 from beyond the 3-point arc.
The Warriors were led in scoring by DeLong, who was 5-for-11 from the field in scoring 12 points, and freshman Bailey Nygaard, who scored 11 points on 3-for-7 shooing from downtown.
The Warriors will take the entire week off for Thanksgiving before beginning preparations for their own Warriors Classic Dec. 6-7 in the Dietrich Dome. Walla Walla will face Mount Hood while Columbia Basin takes on Portland the first night, with the Warriors and Hawks switching Oregon opponents the second night.
“This year is going to be a challenge, but that’s OK,” Hazeltine said. “You’ve got to have those once in a while.
“The Eastern Division is going to be a challenge,” she added. “There were four East teams in this tournament. Everybody else is better than they were last year and we are not.”
Penguins 73, Warriors 62
WALLA WALLA (62) — McHone 3-11 0-0 9, Johnson 4-6 0-1 8, Corbett 0-3 1-1 1, Jordan 2-5 0-1 5, DeLong 5-11 2-2 12, Nygaard 4-11 0-0 11, Rad 2-10 0-0 4, Vincent 1-5 2-2 4, Stubbs 0-0 0-0 0, Siler 1-4 2-4 4, Stefanski 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 24-71 7-11 62.
CLARK (73) — McKee 0-0 0-0 0, Battle 0-2 0-0 0, Bitanga 3-5 0-0 8, Howlett 1-4 5-6 7, Grossman 1-4 1-1 3, Bowen 8-11 0-0 17, Jackson 6-10 0-2 15, Bond 6-8 0-0 15, Smith 2-4 0-0 4, Brown 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 29-53 6-9 73.
Halftime — Clark 33, WWCC 26. 3-point goals — WWCC 7-23 (McHone 3-9, Corbett 0-2, Jordan 1-4, DeLong 0-1, Nygaard 3-7), Clark 9-15 (Battle 0-1, Bitanga 2-2, Bowen 1-1, Jackson 3-6, Bond 3-5). Total fouls — Clark 16, WWCC 9. Fouled out — none. Technical fouls — none. Rebounds — WWCC 42 (Rad 10), Clark 34 (Howlett 7). Turnovers — Clark 14, WWCC 12. Assists — WWCC 13 (McHone 3), Clark 13 (Bond 6).
